This invention relates to telephone instruments, specifically instruments having telephone dialing devices and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for storing, editing and reading out telephone number information stored in the telephone dialing device.
Automatic telephone dialing devices exhibit the well-known advantage of permitting rapid dialing of often-used telephone numbers. Such automatic dialing devices have been manufactured and sold as free standing devices that may be electrically connected to a conventional telephone instrument. These devices also have been integrally formed with such telephone instruments, such as so-called "memory telephones". Typically, a digital memory having a finite number of memory locations stores telephone number information therein. Such telephone number information usually consists only of a multi-digit telephone number and, when retrieved from the memory initiates a telephone dial-out operation of the retrieved number.
In some automatic dialing devices a plurality of keys are used to address corresponding memory locations. The simple actuation of a desired one of those keys results in the retrieval of the stored telephone number from the location addressed by the actuated key. To assist the user in identifying the telephone numbers that are stored in the respective memory locations, paper tabs, or inserts, are juxtaposed the respective keys; and it is expected that the user will write onto each paper tab the name of the individual whose telephone number is stored in the associated memory location.
In other automatic dialing devices, the usual keypad that is used to manually generate telephone numbers also is used to address the memory to retrieve the telephone number stored therein. For example, the telephone number stored in memory location 1 may be retrieved by operating the "1" key; the telephone number stored in memory location 2 may be retrieved by operating the "2" key, and so on. Typically, other keys are provided and must be actuated to enable the automatic dialing device to distinguish between a memory retrieval operation and a manual telephone dialing operation when the keypad is actuated. Unfortunately, means are not provided to display to the user the contents of the memory. Hence, the user cannot utilize such devices as telephone directories.
To generate telephone number information, the very same keypad which is used to manually dial a telephone number is actuated to load the memory with desired telephone numbers. As such telephone number information is generated, it is helpful to display each digit to verify its accuracy. In the event of an error, as noted by observation of the display, the erroneous digit or digits may be corrected. It also has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,929 to display, in addition to a numerical telephone number, alphabetic characters representing the name of the individual associated with that telephone number. Thus, both name and number information is stored and displayed. However, in this proposal, a separate alphabetic character keyboard is provided for the purpose of entering signals representing names.
Automatic dialing devices are particularly advantageous in a business office environment. A busy executive finds such devices most helpful when dialing often-used telephone numbers. However, in view of the relatively limited capacity of most dialing devices, the executive still must maintain a manual telephone directory at least of those telephone numbers which are used less often. Although dialing devices of significantly greater capacity have been proposed heretofore and are available, such devices often are auxiliary to the conventional telephone instrument, are bulky and consume a significant amount of limited desk-top space.
Another disadvantage of known automatic dialing devices resides in the fact that if an executive removes his office from one location to another, he often is supplied with a new telephone instrument and, perhaps, a new dialing device. Consequently, the information which had been entered into the automatic dialing device which he used previously must be re-entered into the new device. Obviously, this constitutes a time-consuming and laborious ministerial task. Heretofore, the rapid entry of telephone number information into automatic dialing devices has not been available. As will be described below, this particular disadvantage is readily overcome in accordance with the present invention.
Yet another disadvantage associated with dialing devices provided in a business office environment is the inability to transfer all or portions of a telephone directory listing from one dialing device to another. Although individual telephone instruments normally are included in a network in typical business office environments, the ability to utilize that network for the transfer of telephone information from one dialing device to another has not heretofore been exploited. Moreover, it is believed that no practical system is commercially available by which telephone directory listings derived from individual dialing devices may be stored at a central location, revised at that location and distributed, in whole or in part, among selected ones of the dialing devices included in the aforementioned network. This disadvantage also is overcome in accordance with the present invention.
There has been a desirability and need in the business office environment to integrate telephone instruments with recording equipment, such as dictating machines. In addition to recording messages dictated directly by a user thereof, such dictating machines also are used to record messages received over telephone lines. However, it is believed that an integrated system has not been made commercially available by which, in addition to recording voice messages, telephone-related data, such as telephone number directory listings, can be recorded on the recording medium of the dictating machine. Such an integrated system would permit the "copying" of directory listings from one telephone instrument to another simply by playing back the previously recorded directory listing into the automatic dialing device of the telephone instrument. Such "downloading" of telephone number information permits changes, revisions and updates to be made easily and quickly by or for a busy executive.